Chapter 30 #2
There was a text from Maverick on the screen.
Making a late breakfast at my place if you two want to join.
I smiled at the gesture and looked to Cal. “Mav wants to know if we want to come eat breakfast at his house.”
“Duh, tell him yes. I’m in boyfriend territory now, it’s expected, and I still need to solidify the good impression because I’m not sure I passed my vetting last night,” Cal said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes as I responded to my dad. And for once, responding to him didn’t amount to a sickening level of dread.
Sure thing, we’ll be down there in 15?
Sounds good.
We rolled out of bed shortly after, running to take quick showers and dress back into pajamas per my request. I told Cal we had a ban on any other kind of clothes while we were here for the week.
I absolutely refused to wear anything but the most comfortable sweats I owned and my hoodie of Cal’s until we were dragged back out onto the road for who knows how long.
Cal and I walked down to Maverick’s place, hand in hand, like we’d been able to do it for years.
It reminded me of our time in Scotland, when he demanded we walk and hold hands and he kissed me on the street in broad daylight.
But right now, it also ached inside my chest, knowing that in just a few days, we wouldn’t have the luxury of just existing like this anymore.
As soon as we walked through the doors of Maverick’s place, we were hit with the madness of it.
My dad’s home felt like a weird time capsule of things.
He’d taken a lot of the things my grandfather had left behind in the old farmhouse that now belonged to me, and now, his house was a strange mash up of the childhood we both shared, and his weird collection of random shit.
The house felt lived in in a different way, almost a creepy way now that I thought about it, but you don’t always catch that with all the noise here that never ends.
“Silas! Cal!”
Shannon’s voice cut through the chaos of the TV blaring cartoons and the sound of sizzling bacon. She was at the stove, hair tied up, pointing a spatula at us like a wand.
“Please tell me one of you knows how to flip pancakes without destroying them, because Maverick has been banned from the griddle.”
Cal didn’t even hesitate. He dropped my hand, only for a second, and grinned. “I actually love cooking. Need a sous chef?”
“Oh, thank God. Get in here,” she said, waving him over.
I watched, feeling a surreal tug in my chest as Cal walked right into the heart of the kitchen. He washed his hands and immediately fell into step beside Shannon, laughing at something she said he took over the spatula. He looked… relaxed. He fit.
I made my way to the island where Maverick was sitting, nursing a coffee and watching the scene with a smirk. I hopped onto the barstool next to him.
“So,” Maverick said, swirling his coffee but keeping his eyes locked on Cal’s back. “He cooks. That’s a point for him. What’s his credit score?”
I choked on my own spit. “Dad. Seriously?”
“I’m serious,” Maverick said, raising his voice so Cal could hear him over the sizzling batter. “Hey, Kincaid! You got good credit? I don’t want my son dating a guy with a five hundred score and a leased Dodge Charger.”
Cal didn’t even turn around; he just flipped a pancake perfectly into the air. “Seven eighty, sir. And I drive a paid off truck.”
Maverick hummed, impressed. “Okay. Seven eighty. Acceptable. Can you change a tire?”
“I can rebuild an engine block if you give me a wrench and a six pack of energy drinks,” Cal shot back smoothly.
Maverick looked at me, eyebrows raised high. “Okay. Now I really like him. Does he fish?”
“Maverick!” Shannon scolded, popping him on the shoulder with a dish towel as she walked by. “Stop interrogating the poor boy while he’s making you food. Let him breathe.”
“I’m just asking!” Maverick defended, holding his hands up. “It’s my fatherly duty. Silas has terrible taste usually, I gotta make sure this one isn’t gonna pawn the family silver.”
I rolled my eyes, stealing a piece of bacon off Maverick’s plate. “We don’t have family silver, Dad. We have family debt and trauma.”
“Details,” Maverick dismissed.
Just then, Taylor walked into the kitchen, looking disheveled and barely awake. He stopped dead when he saw Cal flipping pancakes, then looked at me, blinking slowly.
“Wait,” Taylor said, rubbing his eyes. “So… you guys are like, together together? Like, official?”
“Yes, Taylor,” I said, bracing myself for the teenage awkwardness. “We’re together.”
Taylor let out a loud groan and threw his head back. “Dammit!”
I blinked, confused. “Excuse me?”
“I lost the pool!” Taylor shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me. “I bet Josie twenty bucks you wouldn’t have the guts to come out for another year. I thought you were gonna drag this ‘mystery vibe’ out forever.”
Cal turned from the stove, laughing so hard he nearly dropped the spatula. “You bet against him?”
“I bet on cowardice,” Taylor corrected shamelessly. “Which is usually a safe bet with Silas.”
“Hey!” I protested.
Heat rose to my cheeks, but I was laughing. A thought struck me then, sobering me just a little.
“So… the topic came up? With the kids?”
I hadn’t really let myself think about that part. The younger brothers, Colin and Vega, they were innocent in all this. I didn’t know how to explain seven years of secrets to a twelve and fourteen-year-old.
Shannon turned around, leaning against the counter as Cal plated the food. “Oh, yeah. They asked why he was here. We just told them he was Silas’s boyfriend. And that sometimes boys date boys.”
I held my breath. “And?”
“And they asked if Cal brought the title belt,” Shannon said with a shrug. “That was it. They don’t care, Si. To them, Cal is just the guy who makes Silas happy. And apparently makes better pancakes than their dad.”
“Hey!” Maverick protested.
Just then, Colin and Vega came sprinting into the kitchen, a blur of energy. They skidded to a halt, looking between me and Cal.
“What’s Deadlock’s actual name again?” Colin, the middle brother, asked, his eyes going wide as he spotted Cal’s tattoos.
“That’s Cal,” I said softly.
Vega, the youngest at twelve, squinted at me with a level of skepticism that only a child could muster. “Does this mean we have to watch you kiss him like you used to kiss Amanda? Because that was gross.”
Cal cut his eyes at me instantly. The moment the name Amanda registered, his face twisted into a look of genuine, visceral disgust. He made a loud, theatrical retching noise that wasn’t entirely fake. “Eugh.”
Shannon shoved Cal’s arm playfully, grinning. “Be nice. She tried.”
“I’m with the boyfriend,” Taylor chimed in, grabbing a fork. “Amanda was boring. She always smelled like hospital sanitizer and asked us if we did our homework. Zero vibes. Cal has vibes.”
“So,” Vega continued, looking at Cal with serious scrutiny. “Wait. Which one of you is the girl?”
The kitchen went silent for one microsecond before Maverick groaned, putting his head in his hands. “Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. Nobody is the girl, Vega. Go away. Go outside. Take a pancake and get out.”
Cal was wheezing with laughter, leaning against the counter for support as the boys grabbed food and sprinted back toward the living room.
“I like them,” Cal said, wiping a tear from his eye. “They’re honest.”
“They’re feral,” I corrected, but I couldn’t stop smiling.
The afternoon bled into evening in that perfect, hazy way that only happens in the Carolina spring. We were hanging out on the back porch when Maverick mentioned the weather was perfect for a bonfire.
Cal blinked. “I’ve never actually been to a real bonfire.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Taylor dropped his phone. Maverick looked like someone had just insulted his ancestors.
“Oh my god,” I said. “Okay. We are fixing that immediately.”
It was an all hands on deck situation. I texted Scott, who was there in twenty minutes flat.
We spent the afternoon setting up. Scott took Cal out on one of the four wheelers to haul wood, and watching Cal hold on for dear life while Scott did donuts in the field was a core memory I filed away immediately.
By the time the sun began to dip, painting the sky in strokes of bruised purple and burnt orange, the fire was roaring.
It was perfect.
Scott had pulled a grill down near the pit, and Jayme showed up with bags full of s’mores stuff.
Colin and Vega were running around with a soccer ball, their screams of laughter echoing into the trees.
Josie and Cadence had spread blankets out on the grass and set up a massive speaker that was already blasting Josie’s country playlist.
I sat on a log next to Cal, our thighs pressing together, the heat of the fire warming our fronts while the cool night air nipped at our backs.
Suddenly, Josie and Cadence flopped down on the blanket right in front of us, staring up at Cal with zero shame.
“So,” Josie started, popping a marshmallow into her mouth. “Since you guys are like, officially a thing now… what’s the ship name? We need to know for the hashtags.”
Cal blinked, startled. “The… ship name?”
“Yeah,” Cadence said, scrolling on her phone. “We were thinking ‘Cilas.’ Or maybe ‘Sal.’ But ‘Sal’ sounds like a pizza guy.”
“I vote for Dead Reed,” Taylor shouted from where he was poking the fire with a stick.
“Absolutely not,” I said immediately.
“Okay, okay,” Josie continued, her eyes narrowing playfully. “Serious question though, Cal. Has Silas ever tried to put you in a headlock? Because he has small arms, I feel like you could take him.”
Cal snorted, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me in tight. “Oh, I can take him. He’s all talk.”
“Excuse me?” I scoffed, elbowing him in the ribs. “I’m literally coming for your championship.”
“You’re a brat,” Cal corrected, kissing my temple right in front of them.